Introduction
Hey guys, it’s been quite a while since my last article and I’m excited to be writing for CutOrTap! For those of you who don’t know me, I’ve been playing Pokémon competitively since 2006. Accomplishment-wise, I qualified for Worlds every year, made Top 16 at Worlds three times in Masters, and secured multiple Top 8/Top 16 finishes at US Nationals in Masters. Along the way, I’ve met several lifelong friends and managed to have success with a few crazy rogue decks.
This past season, I decided to take a break from playing competitively after getting most of my Championship Points from Fall Regionals. As much as I enjoy playing, I felt I had to take the time to focus on finishing at University, and some things in my personal life. This meant I also had to take a break from writing as I feel it would be disingenuous to continue putting out articles that wouldn’t be of the same quality. After graduating this spring, I started testing seriously again for US Nationals, especially with the extra incentive of increased prize support on the line. I unfortunately ended up losing my win-and-in round with Vespiquen/Vileplume. In hindsight, I still think the deck was a solid play with the plethora of Night March decks at the top tables and I would make the same choice in heartbeat. Despite not being very active for most of this season, I still made the time to attend nine events in total and was fortunate enough to obtain enough Championship Points to compete at Worlds!
Right now, many of the players competing at Worlds are stuck testing the same old Nationals lists with a few Steam Siege trainers sprinkled in. They’re trying to solve the classic conundrum of what to play for the most prestigious event of the year. With the release of Steam Siege and the lack of Karen, Night March is of course the deck to beat. Trevenant is also on everybody’s radar, which makes sense since it’s the hardest counter we currently have to Night March.
In order to help everybody best prepare for Worlds, I’m going to give my perspective on the decks that seem to be garnering the most attention. Given that several of these decks have been discussed to death, I’ll be sure to focus on highlighting the more unique aspects of my lists.
Table of Contents
- How I would build Night March for Worlds
- Trevenant: Picking the Right Disruption Cards
- Zoroark Sneaks back into the Format
- Can Seismitoad Survive Pokémon Ranger?
- Zygarde/Vileplume: Fighting back against Trevenant
- The Fate of Vespiquen/Vileplume Post-Nationals
- Is Greninja still relevant for Worlds?
- Conclusion
How I would build Night March for Worlds
It feels like there’s already a Night March deck in nearly every Worlds article, so I wouldn’t spend much time analyzing it if I didn’t have something to add to the conversation. Pokémon Ranger serves as a counter to most of the troublesome cards for Night March. As a result, many players seem to be opting for straightforward, consistent builds of Night March. While these builds of Night March are certainly very strong, I’d argue that Night March/Vespiquen is actually a better play for Worlds. This is how I would approach building the deck:
| Pokémon – 24 | Trainers – 32 | Energy – 4 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Joltik PHF | 4 | Professor Sycamore | 4 | VS Seeker | 4 | Double Colorless | ||
| 4 | Lampent PHF | 1 | N | 4 | Ultra Ball | ||||
| 4 | Pumpkaboo PHF | 1 | Teammates | 4 | Battle Compressor | ||||
| 3 | Combee | 1 | Hex Maniac | 4 | Puzzle of Time | ||||
| 2 | Vespiquen | 1 | Pokemon Ranger | 1 | Escape Rope | ||||
| 1 | Galvantula | 2 | Lysandre | 1 | Startling Megaphone | ||||
| 3 | Unown | 1 | Target Whistle | ||||||
| 3 | Shaymin EX | 1 | Special Charge | ||||||
| 2 | Dimension Valley | ||||||||
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Just typing out loud here, but I feel like the Zygarde/Vileplume matchup with Trevenant is not a bad matchup at all for Zygarde. Cell Storm combined with Magnetic Storm and Strong Energy does a lot of work towards staying ahead of Trevenant. If you get the Vileplume lock before they get a Trevenant down, it’s even better. I think it’s a fairly even matchup. Is my thinking wrong?
@metwpost A lot of what you said is totally on point. Using Zygarde to two shot a Trevenant while healing is definitely key to winning the matchup. If you manage to get the Turn 1 Vileplume and start attacking with Zygarde then you’re a pretty big favorite to win the matchup.
The reason the matchup has been difficult for Zygarde/Vileplume, in my experience, is that it’s much more likely you either naturally whiff the Turn 1 Vileplume or a Turn 1 Trevenant prevents you from being able to setup the Vileplume due to the Item lock. Even if you establish a Zygarde EX and keep attacking with Cell Storm, it’s not enough to take down an entire Trevenant deck. The Trevenant player can simply start attacking with Tree Slam while also having access to Burst Balloon. Cell Storm unfortunately doesn’t provide enough healing to survive all this extra damage. Additionally, the Trevenant player might also have Crushing Hammer or Wobbuffet for you to worry about.
I’ve seen a couple players mention Magnetic Storm as a tech for this matchup. While it’s not bad, if you test the list I’ve included you’ll find its Trevenant matchup is better than the Zygarde/Vileplume builds with Magnetic Storm. Additionally, I would sooner make room for a 2nd copy of Pokemon Center Lady than a tech Magnetic Storm. Magnetic Storm won’t stay in play very often because Trevenant has access to 4 Dimension Valley and Delinquent. Usually it helps you two shot a Trevenant with Cell Storm while healing 60 damage. Pokemon Center Lady allows you to use Cell Storm followed by Land’s Wrath, which two shots a Trevenant while healing 90 damage. Pokemon Center Lady does take up your Supporter for the turn, but I also believe it has more utility in other matchups compared to Magnetic Storm.
I could see the Trevenant matchup being closer to even if you’ve been testing against the Crushing Hammer lists that made Top 8 at Nationals. However, I believe many of the Trevenant decks at Wolrds will contain Bursting Balloon, which is must more difficult for Zygarde/Vileplume to deal with. I hope that adds some clarity and that you have success with the Zygarde/Vileplume list I’ve provided in your testing games!